The Shadow That Takes Over, The Fire That Burns Within
by ColonelSoapScum
Summary: AU; Mamoru is a hired assassin who meets a pre-cog police officer that could be his ticket to paying off a large debt.
1. Chapter 1

"Your bounty has increased Hijikata, you better watch yourself,"

A voice crackled in his ear, Mamoru's eyes opened and he lifted his head up in response. The wire outlines of the bar he kept most of his time at were still there, with only himself, the barkeep and a poor old drunken soul. The Underground was a dark and mysterious place, but it still never scared away a man's desire to drink his feelings away.

The barkeep was wiping down the bar top, listening to his radio. Most of the time some jazz was being played, rarely he would turn on the police scanner for Mamoru's sake, just in case. They have known each other for quite some time, but he never knew of the barkeeps actual name. He can't imagine "Jack" being his true name, but he went along with it anyways.

"That's hard even for a seeing man, I'll do my best," Mamoru spoke in a soft tone, as to not attract much attention. Even though there was no one to be seen in the bar, he can never be too careful. There were many people in the Underground, few dared to interact with him. There's even fewer that would be put on equal footing with him, those are usually the people who give him information about the goings on.

The voice chuckled darkly, "Your sense of humor never fails to amuse me." There was a long pause as the tone died down, "I have another job for you."

Mamoru took his feet off the table and set his chair down on all fours, "And what if I say no? This is the third one this week,"

"You forget our deal Hijikata... you do these favors for me, and you get to keep those eyes that were so graciously given to you."

Mamoru pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stood up grabbing his cane. "Just tell me where to go," he grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, walking out of the bar into the unforgiving alley ways of the Underground.

–

"_We're in pursuit of a robbery at the International Bank in Tokyo, suspect seems to be well armed, approach with caution,"_

The walkie radio clicked once again

"Roger that Alpha, we're on it. Over" Sierra responded to the distress call, flicked on the sirens and sped off to their location. She turned to her partner for the night, "Are you ready for this rookie? This will be a big one for you,"

Officer Tooyama turned to Sierra and tried to muster a meek smile. She took a deep breath and nodded her head, "Yes I'm ready!"

"Your first field job in the special task force, you got high marks in your training, I'm sure you'll do fine." Sierra smiled at her, Haruka was a mere 22 and just graduated from training, but she was sure that she would do fine.

Arriving at the bank, they weren't the first ones there. The streets were riddled with cop cars, some going into the building and some staying by their cars waiting for more information. Sierra and Haruka got out of their car, readied their guns and walked up to the building. One of the officers saw them and let them inside, "Be careful, there's been reports of another suspect in there, also armed but he doesn't seem to want anything to do with us. We also haven't apprehended either of them, so we don't know what they're capable of."

"Thanks, we'll do our best. C'mon Haruka"

They both walked into the bank, and started searching. Going towards the vault were the suspect is supposed to be, they heard a set of voices. The officer was right, there was someone else there. Sierra stopped before the room and peeked around the corner, she saw two men standing there, one had the other by the throat and lifted up in the air, with a sword in his other hand.

"Who... is this man?" Sierra whispered to herself as Haruka peered around the corner with her getting a good look at the man in question.

As soon as she said that, the man turned around to look at them. He must have heard them, for he dropped the man he was holding by the throat, the body slumped onto the ground with a loud thud. He turned around fully to face the two women, and then it hit Sierra, she readied her gun and pointed it at him. She clicked her walkie;

"Blade is here, I repeat Blade is in the building send back up immediately!" She backed away and fired a few shots at Blade, "Haruka, get away as fast as you can! This man is dangerous and-" then a piercing scream came from her as Blade threw daggers into her chest, toppling her over in pain. Haruka then got a good look at Blade, standing 6ft tall, leather jacket and sunglasses. She was frightened, frozen in place.

"You're coming with me," his voice was hoarse, gritty and deep. He came up to her and tried to grab her, but she resisted, sparring with him for a mere few seconds before feeling a blow to the back of her head, blacking out.

* * *

A/N: As you probably guessed this is an AU I thought up a while ago. A little background; Mamoru is an assassin with a dark past hired by an info broker that provides his technologically advanced weaponry and electronics. Haruka was hired into a special police force with her pre-cognitive skills.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of the motorcycle was muffled from the helmet on her head. The wind whipping passed them made Haruka shiver, even with the leather jacket she was wearing, and the warmth from her captor. She felt slightly awkward having her arms wrapped around him. She had just met him a couple days ago and ever since he's only said minimal words to her. In his defense, she hasn't said a single word to him since she woke up...

_-Two days earlier-_

Haruka stood in the kitchen staring at the man across the room who captured her, her hands still bound behind her back, dried blood coated the side of her head and lip. She could feel a sour taste in her mouth, and her splitting head ache wasn't helping matters much.

"What do you want with me?" Haruka hissed at him. The man took a few steps towards her, causing Haruka to cautiously step back.

"You're the pre-cog cop everybody has been talking about. You're going to be a great asset to me, and you're going to help protect me. The cops won't get near me with you by my side, they all think I'll kill you in an instant if they even try to,"

Haruka sneered at him, "You wouldn't kill me even if you wanted to you vile pig," she immediately regretting saying that, as in a split second the man seemed to almost jump across the table and appeared in front of her. He took out a throwing knife and pressed it against her cheek, pressing her whole body against the wall behind her.

"No? You don't think I could? Did you see what I did to your friend back at the bank? She was bleeding pretty bad, I'm pretty sure you don't want to end up like her,"

Enraged, she snarled at him and spat in the mans face. In retaliation he made a shallow cut in Haruka's cheek, dropping the knife and grabbing both sides of her face with his hand, jerking her head upwards and leaning in close to her.

"You better fuckin' watch yourself, I'll make sure you will never see the light of day again for as long as you live. Do that again, and I'll maim your pretty little face so hard no one will ever recognize you again."

–

That face imprinted in her mind, she could never shake it off. She could safely say that this man frightened her, his angry gaze, his tall build, and his constant straight-faced demeanor, everything sent her into a hole into the ground. She had no choice but to follow him.

Haruka learned his name just the day before, Hijikata Mamoru. She recognized it from her training, but didn't know anything other then his name, and that he was dangerous. There had also been something off about him, something she couldn't put her finger on. This was the first time they had gone out on a mission together since her capture, otherwise she was locked up in a room.

Mamoru stopped the motorcycle in an alley way, Haruka unwrapped her hands around his body and sat up taking her helmet off, hopping off the bike. She watched as Mamoru got off the bike and took his helmet off as well, revealing his face. This was the first time Haruka had seen it in broad daylight, and everything seemed to make sense; the sunglasses, his sword, the way he never looks at her straight in the eyes; but his actions otherwise deceived any notion of it being true. He took a case out of his jacket pocket and opened it revealing his sunglasses, he slide them on his face and looked around, locking his final gaze on Haruka.

"What are you looking at?" he retorted, startling Haruka. She shook her head and lifted up the back seat and set the helmet inside it. It was hard to believe a man like this could be such a cold-blooded killer, he just seemed constantly grumpy. She peeked back at Mamoru, watching him press a button on the handle of the bike, releasing a compartment for his sword. He took it out and closed the compartment, hanging the helmet on the handle. "C'mon, lets go. You lead,"

Haruka walked passed Mamoru, feeling an evil aura as she did, and headed out of the alley and into the public streets. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and heard his cane tapping against the ground. She saw this coming, otherwise she would have apprehended who ever came into contact with her, especially with her world being turned upside down like this. This had to have been an act to disguise him from being noticed,

"Cross the street to the left and go down about three blocks. We should be close by then," Mamoru spoke softly enough so that no one but Haruka could hear, she nodded in response and followed his directions. "If you can tell what's going to happen next, start collecting information once we get there, I'll need you most then,"

–

"What kind of weapons do they have?"

"Guns, and lots of them. As far as I can tell there are no snipers in the vicinity, but stay away from windows just in case. They're only on the top floor though so you don't have to worry about anybody coming from behind," the speaker in his headset crackled again, "Try not to get yourself killed, I know how well you are with lots of guns..."

Mamoru gritted his teeth sensing the last bit of sarcasm, "Yeah thanks for the vote of confidence... Haruka, how many guys are around the corner?"

Haruka closed her eyes and stood for a moment, "... Seven of them. All are armed with at least one gun," she muttered to Mamoru. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, exchanging glances with him.

"You have a gun right? Use it as much as you need to with your abilities," Mamoru walked passed Haruka, as she took her weapon out of its holster and readied it. He walked out into the middle of the hallway and spotted four men right away, turning to see him appear.

"You fuckers ready to party?" Mamoru said darkly, unsheathing his sword and running forward towards the closest guy, slicing his sword upwards, cutting clean through his right arm holding the gun. Then turning the sword around in his hand pointing the blade at the man, he thrust it into his chest, kicking the man down and bringing his sword out.

The other men then started to shoot at Mamoru at the sight of their first fallen comrade, Haruka joined in and started shooting back. Mamoru watched as the bullets flew past him, one landing into a mans head taking him down immediately and the other one hitting another in the shoulder. Mamoru side swiped his sword right through the mans neck, sending him straight to the ground.

The fourth man screamed in horror and turned to run away, but not before Mamoru reached into his pocket and took out three throwing knives sliding them between four of his fingers, and whipping them at the man, two hitting his back, one in his neck and the fourth lodged into his head. That slowed him down enough for Mamoru to come up behind him and stab the man in the back with his sword, hearing the mans cries of pain fill the hallway.

The three other men Haruka said were there turned around another corner in front of Mamoru, and they stopped and looked at Mamoru. His head was down looking at the man he just stabbed, ripping the sword out of him sideways through his ribs, taking out a large chunk of his torso while doing so. Mamoru grinned darkly as he tilted his head up slightly to look at the three other men, lifting his sword up and swinging it down swiftly swishing away the blood on it.

All three of the men screamed in horror and started to run the opposite way, "HARUKA!" Mamoru yelled, summoning her to run with him after them, she complied and started running ahead and shot at the men, taking one down after a bullet flew into his leg, Mamoru following up with a slice up the middle of his back, starting at the base of the spine and ending at his head and letting him bleed out. Mamoru caught up with the second one, and sliced at his legs, cutting them clean off and stabbing his sword through the man's hand as he hit the ground.

He looked up as the other guy ran around the corner. Taking his sword out, Mamoru started running after him. As he did he heard Haruka gasp.

"Mamoru! Wait! It's a trap!" Haruka cried out.

Indeed it was a trap, as Mamoru rounded the corner and started running at full speed where five more guys awaited him and started shooting at him. He dodged most of them, until one bullet grazed his right forearm, and another pierced him in the shoulder. Mamoru lost his balance as he was running forward and ran into the wall to his right, taking more throwing knives out of his jacket and hitting the two guys closest to him in their faces. Haruka came up in front of him and started shooting at the remaining three men, taking them down one by one.

"Stupid girl... why didn't you tell me there were more guys?!" Mamoru spoke angrily through gritted teeth, trying to shake off the pain in his shoulder. He would have to use his sword double handed and leading with his left to compensate for the lack of strength from his right arm.

"I'm sorry! I didn't have a lot of time to see that far ahead and it happ-" Haruka was cut off by Mamoru grunting as he started to walk.

"Shut up and lets keep going, we're almost there,"

"Blade, you're injured. Keep in mind the task at hand though," the voice whispered in his ear, obviously not caring for his well being.

"Thank you, I realize that. Every one shut up so I can focus," Mamoru rushed ahead, stopping at the door at the end of the hallway and kicking it down revealing a penthouse office; an empty one at that. Mamoru cursed loudly and walked up to the desk to see if anything was left behind. He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Haruka,

"Here, take this and read it to me later. We have to get out of here before..."

"Blade get out of there, that whole wall behind the desk is windows, I know I said stay away from them but you gotta take the girl and jump out, there's a ledge shortly below the window you can step down onto, and a ladder to get down to the alley below."

Mamoru didn't hesitate, he sheathed his sword, grabbed Haruka by the waist and ran to what looked like a solid wall to him. He sliced at it and heard the shattering glass, jumping down on to the ledge and then ran along the wall to the metal ladder staircase as the room they were just in ten seconds before exploded. He threw Haruka onto the metal stair case below with his left arm, him following after and they made their way down towards the alley below.

Haruka hopped off the last ladder onto the ground, watching Mamoru do the same, and fall clumsily and slump against the wall beside them, sitting on the floor panting. He watched as Haruka scurried over and knelt down beside him.

"Mamoru! You're bleeding really bad..." Haruka tore off a piece of her shirt and folded it applying pressure to his wound. "Hold your hand against this while I go get some supplies!"

"You're not going anywhere, remember our deal?" Mamoru spoke through raspy breaths, grabbing her sleeve with his right hand as she got up.

"Well I'm sure as hell not going to sit here and watch you bleed to death, you're going to have to trust me on this!" she spoke through upcoming tears, and looked back at Mamoru hoping he would comply.

Mamoru breathed heavily and let go of her sleeve and letting his arm drop to the ground, and watched as Haruka ran out of the alley, but not before looking back at him before turning the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

Haruka ran out of the corner pharmacy carrying the medical supplies in a bag. She briefly looked up at the sky as she made her way back towards the alley, it was cloudy and the temperature started to drop. She turned the corner again into the alley to see Mamoru missing, only a pool of blood remained where he sat. Haruka swore to herself and ran down the alley turning out into the street again hoping he didn't travel too far. Her first instinct was to return to the alley they parked the bike at about five blocks down. Re adjusting the bag in her hand she started to run as fast as she could.

Haruka entered the next alley and saw the swordsman sitting on the ground against the brick wall, hidden behind the bike from the street view. He was fiddling around with his arm, obviously having a hard time. Haruka ran up to him, knelt down beside him and started to take out sterilizer and bandages. Mamoru stopped and looked at his captive.

"Stupid girl, I've gotten it taken care of. I don't need your help," Mamoru grumbled and kept trying to tighten the self made bandages.

"Hush, I need to take a better look at it. The bullet might still be in your arm," Haruka swatted his hand away and started to take off the half assed bandage job. Mamoru jerked himself away and glared at Haruka angrily.

"I don't need help from someone by the likes of yo-"

"Yes you do!" Haruka grabbed Mamoru's arm again, returning the glare. Mamoru's mouth was firm and angry, and his eyebrows furrowed. She tried looking into his eyes but couldn't get passed the red lenses in his sunglasses, and only saw her own reflection. "I have EMT training and I'm not going to let this wound sit there without doing anything first. Now shut your trap like you usually do and let me do this," Haruka said almost pleading, yet with a firm tone. Mamoru sneered slightly and relaxed against the wall, giving in.

Haruka started to unwrap the messy one-handed job Mamoru started to do and lifted up his sleeve, immediately took a piece of gauze and poured the cleaning solution on it. As soon as she pressed it to the wound Mamoru winced and started to retaliate, causing Haruka to grab onto his arm to keep it still. She removed the now bloody gauze and poured the sterilizer over her hands to closely inspect the wound and his arm around it.

"There's not an exit wound, the bullet is still in there. I'm gonna get it out," Haruka said as she reached into the bag and grabbed a large pair of tweezers, ignoring Mamoru's objections and facial expressions. "Hold as still as you can please, this is going to hurt a lot. Try and keep your arm relaxed,"

As soon as she dug the tweezers into the wound, Mamoru tensed up and gritted his teeth. Growling through his clenched jaw, he bashed his other fist against the ground. Haruka still concentrated on catching the bullet, holding his arm with her other hand having a gauze patch catch as much blood as she could.

Finally she caught it, and slowly started to take it out, lest to Mamoru's ever vulgar curses. Ignoring his threats, she pulled out the bullet, Mamoru letting out a final gasp of breath in relief, and set it on the ground, quickly putting pressure on the would. The swordsman breathed heavily, his face twisted in pain.

"Hold that there, please." Haruka spoke softly yet firm, waiting for Mamoru as he brought his opposite hand up, over lapping Haruka's. She paused and stared at his hand, blushing slightly and frozen in place. She snapped out of her trace and looked at Mamoru, who was now looking at her. This time she could almost see through one of this glasses lenses, his right eye showing and fixed on hers. It was then she noticed the scars on his face more clearly, they reached across his eyes and up to his eyebrows. Slowly she pulled her hand away and brought it closer to her, glanced at her hand and quickly back up at Mamoru one last time, and then took a better look at her hand; blood. His blood.

She opened the sanitizer and poured it over her hands, washing the blood off. As she inspected her hands, snow started to fall. Haruka looked up into the sky, a few flakes falling on her face. She glanced at Mamoru, who was also looking up at the sky.

"Winter must be here... I figured it was getting a bit chillier,"

Haruka was puzzled, "Well yeah... it's the middle of December."

"... So it would seem," Mamoru turned his head down towards Haruka and nudged his shoulder. Haruka snapped out of another deep thought.

"Oh, right. Let me do one more thing," Haruka said as she dug out a fresh gauze patch, "Here... take your hand off slowly..." Mamoru did as she said, Haruka placed the new one on and started wrapping the wound with a fresh bandage. "There, all finished. That's the best I could do with what I had," she collected the supplies and tossed the bloody bandages in the pile next to the wall. When she didn't hear a reply back from him she looked up at him, he had already stood up and walked over to his bike. He opened the compartment for his sword and slid it in.

Haruka stood up and came up behind him slowly. As quietly as she could she reached her hand up towards Mamoru's ear, keeping her breathing steady. Before she could make contact with his glasses, he turned his head towards her.

"What are you doing?" he growled, causing Haruka to freeze in place. She brought her hand back and shook her head.

"N-No... I thought, something was in your hair." Haruka said sheepishly. Mamoru gave her a stern look and swapped his glasses for his helmet. He placed his hand on the seat and swung his leg over positioning himself on the bike.

"Lets go,"

Haruka mimicked Mamoru, and got onto the bike putting her helmet on. She placed her hands on his sides, letting him know that she was ready to go. He started up the engine and revved off into the night.

* * *

Haruka had woken up in the middle of the night, another dream; she shook this one off just like all the others, and got up to get a glass of water. She straightened out the large shirt that was graciously given to her so she could wash her other clothes, and made her way through the dark room to the door and slowly opened it out to the living room.

Once again pitch black greeted her, she wondered how anybody could navigate like that, she couldn't recall many times the lights have actually been on. She put her hand against the wall to her right and made her way along it until she felt cold tile against her bare feet, assuming it to be the kitchen. When she stepped down her foot steps were much more apparent, at this point she didn't care if she woke Mamoru up.

Trying to remember where the sink was, she turned abruptly turned to her left and didn't walk two steps before colliding with something head on, and fell to the floor behind her in retaliation. The next thing she heard was a splash of liquid against the ground and a gruff voice cursing. Haruka rubbed the hip she fell on and looked up, her eyes finally starting to adjust to the darkness. What she saw gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You mind watching where you're going?" The looming figure in front of her spoke, confirming that it was indeed Mamoru. Haruka immediately forgot about being sincere about everything.

"Well excuse me, sorry I can't see in the dark like you can apparently," Haruka said mockingly, standing up and backing up against the wall close behind her. He could hear his foot steps getting further from her, him chuckling darkly all the while.

"You really haven't caught on yet have you? You're quite naïve for someone on the special task forces," he said as a chair skid across the tile. "If you really need it the light switch should be over to your right against the wall."

Haruka followed his instructions, eventually finding the light switch and flicked it on. She squinted her eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the sudden brightness. Soon she found herself in the same room that their first conversation took place, seeing the table in the middle of the room and Mamoru sitting in a chair right beside it. He was wearing a plain white shirt, complete with a few blood stains on his sleeve from his wound from earlier, and a pair of dirty jeans. He took a sip from the mug of what she assumed was coffee, and it was then she noticed he wasn't wearing his sunglasses.

His hair was a mess in his face, and he never focused on her or anything after the lights went on. The scarring on his face was much more apparent, clear across his eyes, the bridge of his nose and above his brow in almost a splash pattern. Haruka walked up to the table and sat down slowly, still looking at Mamoru. Trying to avoid confrontation and a possible freak out by her captor, she kept her mouth shut until she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"So... you're really-" Haruka started to say until she was cut off.

"Yeah," Mamoru interrupted, startling Haruka slightly at his curtness. She quickly recovered and calmed her nerves as Mamoru took another sip of his coffee.

"How did it happen?" Haruka inquired, expecting him to say nothing but asked anyways. Mamoru finished his drink and placed the mug on the table.

"Why do you need to know?" he said curtly again, getting up and placing his hand on the counter making his way to the coffee maker to pour himself another glass. Haruka's face contorted into a frown.

"I'm just amazed on how you move and fight, it's almost as if you're not-" Haruka started to speak but was cut off once again before she could finish, this time with Mamoru slamming his mug against the counter top.

"Well, I am, so just deal with it and drop it. Go back to bed," Mamoru growled, furrowing his brow and looking in Haruka's direction. In which Haruka stood up quickly, knocking her chair over behind her.

"You don't have to be such an asshole about it! It was just a simple question!" Haruka once again regretted opening her mouth, as Mamoru bashed his fist against the counter top and turned around to face her.

"It's not a 'simple question' when you're the one being asked how something like this happened!" Mamoru roared, "Besides, it's none of your fucking business," He swiped his hand downwards and started walking towards the living room, Haruka getting up quickly and catching his hand.

"Mamoru, wait!"

In retaliation Mamoru lifted his hand up and brought it down to strike Haruka, although was stopped by Haruka's free hand twisting his arm into a hold behind his back with surprising ease. Mamoru was about to make a counter attack when Haruka quickly lifted her over sized shirt to reveal a hand gun on a holster against her leg, taking it out and holding it up to Mamoru's jaw line as his he lifted his head up. He started to chuckle again, as if he had gone off the deep end.

"Go ahead... shoot me. I don't believe you actually can," Mamoru mocked her, having Haruka grit her teeth and put her finger on the trigger. As soon as she started to pull it back Mamoru retaliated and used his weight to lean into Haruka, elbowing her in the stomach and knocking her back, her finger pulling the trigger and sending a bullet into the ceiling before dropping her gun. She let go of Mamoru's arm and fell backwards, his arm wrapped around her torso before she hit the floor again.

Haruka wheezed and coughed, trying to get her circle of air back into her lungs from being winded. She looked up at Mamoru, who had stood her back up and still had his arm around her. He was looking in her direction, his sightless eyes open and brow furrowed, it looked like as if he was trying to think of something to say. She realized that he couldn't see that she was only half dressed, but she felt almost embarrassed being that close to him in this state.

"Would... you mind letting go of me?" Haruka spoke softly, "I can stand up straight now,"

Mamoru did as he was asked and took his hand off, but didn't back away. "Next time you want to pick a fight with me, remember I can easy over power you. I know you're trained in combat but that won't help you next time you anger me. Learn to keep your mouth shut and know your place," he turned around and walked towards the living room and to his door in his room.

Haruka watched as he walked away, her heart beating from the events that just happened. She picked up her gun from the ground and walked back into the room she was assigned to, crawling into bed and attempted to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning the duo set up in a back corner at a local cafe. It was the only place they could do some research and still be some what hidden by the outside world. Mamoru sat in the chair with his arms crossed against his chest and cane propped up against the table. Haruka sat across from him drinking some tea, and typing away at the laptop Mamoru gave her to use. Why a blind man had a laptop was beyond her but it was better than nothing. Next to her was the piece of paper Mamoru had picked up from the desk before they were blown out of the building the previous day. His face was constantly skewed into a frown from the constant typing.

"What are you looking up now?" Mamoru said, and by the tone of his voice he was more than perturbed.

"How to read braille, because you're the shittiest blind person ever and can't read it. It's obvious this was supposed to be given to you, otherwise it wouldn't be in braille." Haruka responded sternly, causing Mamoru to roll his eyes.

"I don't need to read it, there fore I won't waste the time to learn it. Besides, that's what I have you for."

Haruka glared at him, and picked up the piece of paper, running her finger over it and looking at it closely. "If I can differentiate where a letter starts and ends I should be able to decipher it by just looking at it..." she turned her attention back to the laptop screen, "Hmmm... oh! Ah ha! Here we go," she exclaimed excitedly and started to jot down notes. Meanwhile Mamoru was listening to his ear piece.

"Once you get what is on the paper, tell me so I can send you information about it. I have a feeling I know what it is, but I want to be sure. Also next time you get back to your place there will be a new sword waiting for you, I did some tests on your current one and it's starting to wear down from forcibly attacking people and slicing them up, you know I don't care about it but watch yourself before you get into some serious trouble. I have a hard enough time trying to cover your ass with the higher ups..."

"Yeah... sure." he was only half listening after a while, he ended up scanning the area around the cafe for possible steak outs and snipers.

"By the way, that girl you got following you around... is she pretty adorable? When are you gonna-" Mamrou cut the receiver out so he didn't have to hear him anymore, that wasn't a subject he was about to get into with her sitting next to him.

"Does the word... "swan" mean anything to you? Because that's what this piece of paper says," Haruka chimed in, disrupting Mamoru's train of thought. He turned the transceiver back on.

"Did you hear that? Swan... isn't that linked to?"

"Yes, one of the branches of the Yazuka. The man you're looking for is the one who started to traffic drugs, Morimoto. He is over seas at the moment and won't return to Tokyo for a few more days. So you'll have to lay low until then," the voice crackled in his ear again, Mamoru displeased from the wait he would have to endure.

"No, I can't just lay low until then. There's gotta be something before it, he wouldn't just let me jump into his arms like that. Do some more research for us will ya?" Mamoru furrowed his brow and gripped his cane. Haruka closed the laptop and looked at Mamoru.

"So... what now?"

"Instead of waiting two days until "Swan" is back in Japan, my partner is gonna find a location for us to search for more informations. I'll need your skills then to pin point the area for me, where he is unable to track from the outside."

Haruka nodded, but looked puzzled, "So who is your partner anyways?" she asked playing with the salt and pepper shakers on the table, looking up at him after rearranging them a few times.

Mamoru shrugged, "I've never met him in person, at least as far as I know. He created the technology in my glasses and developed the specs for it and my cane, so for all I know he could block his facial recognition from my sight. He's never told me his name, but I know he has connections with nearly everybody somehow,"

This was the most Haruka had ever heard Mamoru speak. "So why do you go around doing jobs for this guy if you've never met him?" she took a sip of her tea, making a bit of a face afterward. It had gotten cold from letting it sit for so long.

Mamoru paused before speaking, "Because he gives me a purpose in life. In exchange for giving me my glasses and the sword, I've been hired as an assassin to do jobs for him. With a talent in swordsmanship what else is a blind man to do?" he said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Haruka didn't respond and looked down at her now cold tea, she didn't have a response for that. Even she couldn't think of what she would do if she lost her eyesight. She looked around the cafe, many couples and co-workers having a meal together, some men reading the paper, others studying on their laptop. One man in particular caught her eye, as if she recognized him. The man looked over his paper, and for a moment their eyes met. Immediately she looked away, and out of her peripherals she noticed the man put the paper down, and stand up to walk out of the cafe. Just then she watched Mamoru stand up and grab his cane.

"C'mon, lets go. I have a feeling we're being watched. Out the back way where the motorcycle is." Mamoru said as he rushed out the back door next to them, Haruka quickly shoving the laptop into the bag and following him into the alley way. Mamoru had already started up the motorcycle and had Haruka's helmet ready for her. She quickly grabbed it and positioned herself behind him on the bike and he zoomed off before Haruka could completely put her helmet on. As soon as she put it on all the way she could hear Mamoru's voice through the headset.

"Someone was watching us, weren't they?"

Haruka paused, she didn't know whether to be truthful with him or not, she did recognize the man as a detective from the station. She didn't know his name though, and had only met him a few times, but she had a gut feeling that he was going to be there. More visions caught on, it wouldn't be the first time they would meet like that.

"Y-Yeah...," Haruka said quietly, not sure if it was audible enough for Mamoru to hear.

"Hold onto something, I need to speed up," Mamoru warned her, dropping the subject all together. Haruka quickly wrapped her arms around his torso, her heart starting to pound.

Mamoru smirked slightly, he could feel her heart beat escalate. He turned the corner and sped off down the street.

–

Later that night Mamoru tossed in his sleep, nightmares haunted him as usual. He opened his eyes to meet the same darkness that met him constantly, some nights he would dream in pictures although bitter sweet, worsened his mood rather than brighten it. Although it never helped that the usual dreams involved a house fire and the screams of the child he was unable to save. Like any other night he would get up and soothe his insomnia with a cup of coffee, but tonight something was off. Like someone was watching him.

He didn't hear his door open, although he had only been awake for a few seconds. He sat up and leaned against the wall behind his bed, listening for whoever was there. Footsteps, from a small pair of bare feet. He then heard and felt his bed sheets rustle at the foot of his bed, and he then smelt a familiar smell, one that had been with him the past few days. Haruka.

Her movements where slow and shaky, like she was nervous. Whatever had come over her to take action with this, Mamoru wasn't about to retaliate. She had been kind and forgiving to him; something he didn't take lightly. When it came from her it struck him, that even someone being forced into his capture could make the best out of a situation. She even hesitated to shoot him the night before, something else was keeping her here and Mamoru was afraid he was about to find out.

Right then and there, almost like an explosion, it hit him. Literally.

Haruka reached his legs, her hands gently rubbing against the top of them trailing up to his knees, thighs and groin. Following her hands was the rest of her body, seating herself in his lap and moving her hands up his arms. Her breaths were staggered and nervous, body still shaking. Mamoru moved his hands around and found her thighs on either side of his legs and ran his hands up them towards her sides and chest, lifting up the oversized shirt off her body.

As soon as Mamoru threw her shirt away from them, Haruka found her way up his chest and to his neck. She then wrapped her hands around his cheeks and brought her lips towards his, hitting his cheek first and then over to his lips, locking them together. The next moment, she had pushed her tongue through his mouth, Mamoru returning the favor and bringing his hands up to her neck, one hand going up into her hair and gripping it.

By her movements, he figured the lights were out and in that moment until her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was just as blind as he was.

Haruka moved one hand into his hair, and the other down his bare chest, over the scars and muscles that rippled across his body. As they continued to make out he moved one hand down her chest, coming up onto her bare breast, cupping and caressing it hearing her moan in response. She broke away from his lips and lifted her head up and arched her back, Mamoru then wrapped his arms around her torso and kissed her neck multiple times before moving down her breast bone.

As soon as he started, Haruka took a deep breath and placed her hands on his arms and broke them away from her torso and lifted them above his head. She used the large hair tie she had wrapped around her wrist and bound his hands with it, holding them against the wall. Mamoru stopped kissing her chest and smirked as Haruka bent down and kissed his lips, then his chin, neck, and down his chest. Her hands slid away from his as she made her way down his body, down his raised arms and his chest, reaching down to his hips and where his boxers were. She grabbed the elastic waist band and pulled them down, exposing his apparent erection. Her lips made their way down his torso, across his belly button, and then to the head of his penis, causing Mamoru to twitch slightly with excitement.

Haruka enveloped her mouth around the head and slid her lips up and down the shaft, flicking her tongue over the head. Mamoru moaned as she did so, allowing her to do it for another minute or two before he couldn't handle it anymore and broke his hands away from the hair tie around his wrist. He brought his hands down until they met with the top of Haruka's head, her stopping and lifting her head up and replacing her mouth with her hand on his shaft and continued the motion. Mamoru moved his hand to her shoulder, and got onto his knees as he pushed Haruka onto her back, her hand letting go of him.

Haruka's eyes had adjusted to the dark, although it wasn't light enough to see more than just figures and outlines. She could see Mamoru's body looming over her and inching closer, she took off her underwear and tossed them to the side, reaching her hand up to his cheeks and pulled him closer, meeting her tongue with his once more. He followed her lead, his body pressing against hers and placing his hands on either side of her trying not to put too much weight on her. In response to his warmth she arched her back and moved her hands from his cheeks to his back.

Mamoru reached his hand down her chest and to her pelvis, positioning his own over hers and guided his penis towards her vagina and gently slides in, hearing Haruka moan in pleasure and grip his back. She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his lower back, causing Mamoru to sit up and slide in further, positioning his hands on her hips. As he motioned in and out of her, she would buck her hips even further and grip the bedsheets, and as she moaned, he would move quicker and quicker.

Haruka reached and grabbed his hands, pulling herself up and pushing Mamoru against the wall. She repositioned herself in his lap once more, and started to gyrate her hips. Mamoru tilted his head back, his breathing heavy with each thrust. He brought his hands up to Haruka's waist and moved his hands up and down her body, picturing what it would look like. Suddenly he wrapped his arms under her legs and lifted her up, getting on his knees, turning around and pressing her against the wall. Her legs still wrapped around him, Mamoru ran his hands up her body again, taking her hands and pressing them against the wall on either side of her. He reached to kiss her, finding her neck first, and following it up to her lips again, pushing his tongue in to meet hers.

With every thrust into her, Haruka let out a moan that made Mamoru almost melt, and kept him going. Haruka was almost at her climax, and every moan got louder and heavier. She clenched her fists and arched her back, causing Mamoru to respond by reaching his fingers up to her fists, opening them and locking fingers together. He kept thrusting, faster and faster until Haruka let out one final moan, causing Mamoru to do the same. Both of them paused and took deep breaths together, resting each others foreheads on each other.

Haruka unwrapped her legs, and Mamoru let her down off the wall, pulling his boxers back on. He crawled out of bed and reached over to his dresser, grabbing a pair of pants. Slipping them on, he walked out the bedroom door into the kitchen. Haruka just stayed in the bed, crawling underneath the covers, wondering what compelled her to do what she just did.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning went on quietly. Mamoru didn't say much to Haruka, nor did she bring anything up from the night before. She wasn't sure how he felt about it, he seemed a little on edge; that also may be because she found him that morning asleep on the couch. Their breakfast was eaten in silence. Haruka could tell Mamoru was tired from his sunken eyes and somewhat clumsy state, whether it was because he was around her or of the awful sleep he got was unknown to her.

What it really was in fact what happened the previous night. Mamoru was more or less confused as to what took over him, he would never normally do something like that with someone. Especially one he has taken hostage for his own benefits. That's how he always lived, to better his own life. At times he thought about casting aside his aided sight and weapons, to pursue a normal life. Maybe someone would find him favorable enough for a husband, and a family, he could find a job and provide for said family.

Who was he kidding. No one in their right mind would choose him. A broken blind man with an awful past he can never seem to get away from. Especially now with his track record, he would soon spend the rest of his days behind bars for what he's done. And for what? So he can better his skills and prove to himself he is worth something in this world? Then Haruka shows up, gives him a glimmer of hope that maybe he won't be alone after all.

Mamoru looked up from his plate at Haruka briefly, she was busy playing with her food instead of eating it. He wondered if she realized what she started the night before, but he tried to try and stay away from the subject as long as possible, and after breakfast grabbed his sword to sneak away to practice in the back room. He closed the door behind him and unsheathed his sword, and started to practice swing and workout his muscles. They were sore from last night… He remembered the sound of her voice, over and over in his head which ended up distracting him from his workout. He walked over to the far wall and leaned his hand against it, hanging his head down trying to clear his mind. Suddenly he heard the door behind him creak, causing him to turn his head slightly. The smell in the air changed as Haruka's scent wafted in.

"Mamoru-san. I'm going to the convenience store, I need to get some ingredients for dinner tonight if we don't have a job tonight." Haruka's voice filled the empty room.

"What makes you think you can take over this place like that?" Mamoru curled his hand into a fist and pushed himself off the wall, turning around to face Haruka. He looked at her wire frame, and walked towards her and getting a closer look up of her face. It was contorted into a frown, obvious from his last remark. "Don't forget that you're a hostage, and I'm allowing you what little freedom you have. Consider yourself lucky that I don't lock you up every night."

Haruka huffed and crossed her arms. "Say what you want, but without me you would go back to frozen dinners and bar food. If you're going to keep me here you might as well give me something to do, and right now that is cooking," Haruka said pointing her finger in his face. He sneered at her in response and walked around her shoving into her shoulder slightly and disappearing into the rest of the apartment.

"Fine. Let's go then."

—

"Blade, I have just receive intel that Swan will be arriving in Tokyo early. Approximately at 20:00 tonight. Location is currently unknown… I will have to get back to you on that."

The headsets in the helmets clicked off as Mamoru's partner finished speaking. For a second all she could hear was the hum of the motorcycle engine as they continued off to their destination.

"Did you hear that Touyama? We have a job to do tonight. We'll go to the supermarket and return back to talk about it more." Mamoru spoke abruptly and sped off faster through traffic. Haruka was amazed at how well he could drive, the technology in his helmet being vastly advanced than she could ever imagine to be in this day and age. There must be emergency and back up driver software that takes over in case something goes wrong with his helmet. He's literally blind as a bat if that happens, although Mamoru never seemed to be afraid.

They arrived at the supermarket, and Haruka hopped off first setting her helmet down. Mamoru followed close behind and he put his hand on her shoulder, like normal, and continued into the store. She picked up a basket and headed down the first aisle, stopping to look at what they had. Aisle after aisle she would do this, eventually having Mamoru's patience run out.

"You're really starting to piss me off by doing this repeatedly… Why don't you just finish this quickly so we can get out of here," Mamoru growled softly, gripping the handle on his cane tighter.

"You didn't complain about anything like that last night, now did you?" Haruka said, cocking her head up to look at Mamoru in the eye. Immediately when he caught onto what she was talking about he let go of her shoulder.

"Tch… " Mamoru sounded as he turned heel and walked off in the opposite direction, wanting to get as far away from her as possible. He turned into the next few aisle's over and stopped in front of a shelf pretending to be looking at it. He felt flustered, something that was also upsetting him a great deal. He had slipped into a deep thought when someone came up to his left.

"Sir… Do you need any help with your shopping?" the voice called out, sounding like a young woman.

"No, leave me be," Mamoru grumbled at the lady, turning to his right to walk out of the aisle again. This was the last thing he wanted was to feel helpless in a store he felt was perfectly cable of shopping at. The longer he was to be in that store, the longer he would be exposed to the atmosphere of people feeling like they needed to do a good deed by helping a blind man do his shopping. He turned the corner into another aisle and started actively looking for Haruka.

Haruka however as still in the midst of shopping. After her pleasant success in making Mamoru storm off she was happy to be alone for once. She wasn't gonna run, as he would surely find her, but she also didn't feel the need. She had started to get used to this life, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. She grabbed something off the shelf and put it into her hand basket when a man walked up to her, getting uncomfortably close.

"Excuse me, you're in my… way" said Haruka, trailing off at the end. She looked up to see the same detective that was looking at her in the coffee shop the day before.

"I apologize for meeting you like this, but I must do this quickly before I'm spotted. In exchange for your freedom, and a rather large reward, meet me at the loading docks by the pier at 20:30 tonight. Bring the Samurai with you." the man whispered into her ear and slipped a piece of paper with the location and other information into her hand. Haruka looked down to take a look at it, and glanced up to ask the man a question, but he was already gone. Instead, she saw the familiar samurai walking down the aisle towards her.

"There you are, let's go. Now." Mamoru caught up with her and looked at her through his glasses. "… What's that in your hands?"

Haruka's heart started to race when he asked the question. Although suddenly realizing he couldn't actually read what was on it, she just looked up and smiled. "Just a recipe a nice man just gave me. There is no harm in that, right?"

Mamoru raised an eyebrow at her, "… Whatever. Let's just go. If I get asked if I need assistance shopping one more time, I might have to kill someone"

—

The next few hours seemed to go on forever, and the guilt of her upcoming task started to sink in. Haruka sat at the table, staring into her cup of tea and kept thinking about how she was going to go about telling him without sounding too suspicious.

She was alone for the time being, Mamoru had just walked down to the bar below his apartment to talk to someone. Haruka took a gulp of her tea and set the cup back down on the table, staring at the wall opposite of her. Everything was so plain; white paint, no wall hangings or decorations. Not even a poster or a calendar. Obviously Mamoru had no use for any of this but she found it odd that the whole apartment seemed quite empty.

Suddenly her vision took away from the bland walls, and an image flashed in front of her. There was a helicopter, and a large group of what looked like police officers, and someone on their knees in front of them, the lights from the helicopter and police cars blaring. She couldn't properly see who it was, as their back was turned to her. A bright flash of light lasted only a split second and the same figure that was on their knees fell to the ground and lied motionless.

Haruka snapped back to reality and opened her eyes, her heart was racing at what felt like a million miles an hour. Sweat was beading down the side of her face and she had ultimately crushed her tea cup in her hands, the pieces all over her hands and what was left of her tea coated her hands and puddled against the table. It was one of the more violent visions she has had recently, and she couldn't shake off the fact that she knew exactly who it was she saw. Haruka lifted her hands up slightly and let the shards of ceramic fall to the table, revealing her now bleeding hands.

"What the hell was that?" a familiar voice broke the silence, the only other voice she had been hearing for the past week and a half. Haruka snapped her head up and her eyes met Mamoru's face, who was in the door way to the entrance just looking at her.

"N...N-nothing. Just a vision," Haruka responded softly, and she looked down for a moment, watching as Mamoru took his shoes off and slipped his feet into house slippers. She thought back to the slip of paper that the man in the store gave her, and looked back up at Mamoru who was now walking towards her, stopping at the edge of the table. He stood there, as if he was waiting for more from her. She couldn't bring herself to do it, the large bounty and her freedom aside, she would be luring him into a trap. At the most, they would arrest him and he would be put on trial... so she hoped.

"Is there something you have to tell me?" Mamoru said, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward slightly. He looked through his glasses down at her clenched fists, and the pile of what he assumed was a cup in front of them. His gaze flickered back to Haruka, her vacant facial expression apparent, still looking at him.

"Down by the docks. At 20:30, Swan will be there." Haruka said, and then fell silent until she heard a response. Mamoru's gaze was unwavering, she could almost see it through his glasses.

He snarled his lips slightly, "Are you lying to me?"

Haruka quickly stood up and opened her hands, jutting them out towards Mamoru, bleeding palms facing up. Her expression changed from blank to furious, trying to cover up the apparent lie she just made. "If I was lying to you would that vision have caused me to break the tea cup in my hands?!" Haruka spoke loudly and angrily, feeling the blood spread out from her palms and drip down the side and through her fingers.

"I'm assuming you're showing me what's on your palms, for one I hope you realize I can't actually tell what it is. Secondly, I'll take your word for it. Get ready to leave in about an hour so we get there a bit early," Mamoru grunted and stood up straight. He pushed his glasses up his nose and walked past Haruka, "if your hands are indeed bleeding you should probably get it cleaned up," he finished before heading into his room, and closed the door behind him.

Haruka looked down at her palms and stared at them for a while. After she heard Mamoru's door shut, she closed her eyes as they were about to tear up and brought her still bleeding hands up to her face and buried her face in them, staggering back into the chair she was sitting in. She started to shake slightly as she took deep breaths to keep her composure, all the while tensing her fingers around her head.

"I'm so fucking stupid..." she whispered to herself bitterly, letting her hands fall to her sides. She stood up and made her way towards the bathroom to clean up.


	6. Chapter 6

The quiet purr of the engine was all that was heard. Mamoru had stopped the motorcycle behind a wall before entering the docks. He was looking out towards the open area, keeping a look out for anything suspicious. Haruka sat back, putting her hands behind her on the top of the plate covering the rear wheel and looked out towards the wharf. Boats and docks clattered together with the waves crashing onto the shores. The moon was hidden behind an overcast sky, it was going to rain soon.

"What time is it?"

The voice crackled in her helmet's headset. It startled her out of her trance and caused her to turn her head towards Mamoru, looking at the back of his helmet. She pressed a button on her helmet and the retina display flashed the time, "It's close to 8:30" Haruka responded.

"Let me do all the talking. Keep your gun ready just in case. Listen to what I tell you." Mamoru murmured, pausing and waiting for a confirmation from Haruka. "Can you see if there is anybody hiding around here?"

Haruka's heart skipped a beat, and when his voice went away she sat and opened her mind. She already knew what she was going to see, she saw it on the way to their destination. She waited a few moments, and when she confirmed that her vision hadn't changed she took a deep breath.

"I... don't see anybody. I think we're in the clear,"

"You think?"

"I'm sure. Trust me." Haruka then fell silent.

No response; she had assumed he took her word for it. Suddenly Mamoru turned off the motorcycle and hopped of his seat. Haruka followed and after they took off their helmets and grabbed their weapons they walked out onto the docks. Large metal containers were scattered about, mostly stacked neatly on top of each other, casting large shadows made from the street lights.

They walked closer to the towers of containers to hide their presence before blindly running out into the open. Mamoru was still being cautious, he thought he sensed people around them in hiding, but his glasses weren't detecting anybody. There had been no word from his partner the entire time they were at the docks, there couldn't have been a jamming device, as he was able to communicate with Haruka though their helmets. Suddenly Mamoru stopped to put his hand on the handle of his cane, and turned his head to properly listen to his surroundings. He slowly stuck out the end of his cane, then part of his foot and immediately he felt killing intent.

He promptly pressed himself against the container and put his arm over Haruka to keep her back as a bullet flew by them. Haruka's eyes widened and she looked up at Mamoru who was looking out to pinpoint where they came from.

Mamoru stood silent and concentrated, eventually unable to figure out where it came from. _"I can't find anything or anybody... what are they using for me to be unable to detect them other than with killing intent?" _Mamoru thought to himself, figuring out what to do next. There was at least one sniper in the area, and every sniper has a buddy in another area. Worst case scenario, there are more people hiding and have masked themselves from his limited view. It was then he realized it; he was set up.

He looked at Haruka, who was looking right at him, and gritted his teeth. How could he have been so naïve. Her face was contoured into a frown, not that any of her expressions have been gleeful at all since they've come together, but this one told him everything he needed to know.

"... Stupid girl,"

Haruka foresaw what he was going to do next and ducked as Mamoru reached for her throat. She started to back away into the open, sorrow appearing on her face. She was too slow with her side stepping and was stopped by Mamoru's cane hitting her shoulder with enough force to startle her. Before she could react once more Mamoru's fingers were already wrapped around Haruka's neck and pressing up against her jaw bone, lifting her off the ground. She dropped her gun and brought her hands to Mamoru's wrist in an attempt to have him let go.

"I... I didn't want to do this. I don't w-want to get you killed," Haruka spoke as best as she could, tears started to well up in her eyes. "But if... if you kill me now, I won't be able to help you escape with... with your life," After she finished Mamoru's grip tightened, and he gritted his teeth.

"You expect me to believe you?!" Mamoru roared, "After you set me up like this? I ought to let you die here right along with me," as soon as he finished his threat, men started to march around them, guns aimed at Mamoru. He looked past Haruka and saw part of their new audience. Haruka's breathing got heavier and heavier as she struggled to breathe. A helicopter flew in from above, and shone the search light on both of them, Haruka squinting her eyes away from the light.

"Let go of the woman, Blade. The gig is up," a voice boomed over the wharf, Mamoru immediately recognized it as the voice from his ear set. A dark grin appeared on his face as he started to chuckle. He loosened his grip on Haruka's neck and turned slightly to his left where the circle of officers and the helicopter above them were. He looked up to the outline of the helicopter.

"So now you finally show yourself. And you're still hiding in an object out of my reach, how typical of you," Mamoru spoke loudly enough for everybody to hear, his voice carrying over the ear set to his partner in the helicopter. He felt the killing intent of someone to his right where Haruka was and once he heard the gun shot he dodged over to prevent the bullet from piercing his back, and instead grazed his arm causing his grip to finally loosen enough for Haruka to struggle free. She dropped to the ground and rolled over away from Mamoru, starting to get to her feet.

Mamoru growled and finally unsheathed his sword and discarded the cane-scabbard. He gripped the handle of his blade with both hands and swung it down at Haruka. In reflex she rolled away onto her back and the blade hit the ground. At the same time the round of officers simultaneously aim their guns at the samurai, Mamoru heard the noises but refused to keep his eyes off of Haruka.

"Don't shoot the samurai, we can't risk harming Officer Touyama," the voice boomed again. Mamoru took his foot, quickly put it onto Haruka's chest and lifted his sword above his head to strike down once more. Another gun shot rang out and the sound of metal hitting metal sounded out. Mamoru swiftly brought his hands down to his chest and bent over slightly in retaliation, his hands stunned from the shock of his sword being struck out of them. This gave Haruka a chance to get to her feet from under Mamoru's foot and back away slowly. She kicked back her gun that was dropped earlier, she then slowly bent over and picked it up, not taking her eyes off of Mamoru once.

Two men handed off their guns and ran up to Mamoru in attempts to apprehend him. The first man touched the back collar of his jacket, but before he could get another hand on him, Mamoru stood up and used the back of his head to head butt the first officer, making him let go of his jacket and fall over backwards, knocking him out. Mamoru was still unable to move his hands properly. He kept them close to his body and ran up to the second officer, dealing a roundhouse kick to the head and took him down. As he corrected his stance again a small group of officers in front of him started to open fire. As each bullet came towards him, Mamoru watched the projected paths thanks to the technology in his glasses. He was surprised that his partner hadn't turned them off yet, as he had all control. As they came near he dodged them accordingly, and worked his way towards the men. Now able to move his fingers slightly, he reached into the inside of his jacket and took out throwing knives, piercing each of the men, ceasing their fire as they dropped to the ground.

"STOP! Please!" a shrill high pitched voice rang out, and Mamoru stopped moving. He faced the source of the sound where he saw Haruka standing alone. She was holding her gun, her hands trembling as it was pointed at him. Mamoru couldn't make out the look on her face, but he could only imagine how scared she was. He stood there unwavering, he felt the blood trickle down his arm from the bullet graze. The numbness was starting to wear off from his hands, as he clenched them into fists he grinned slightly.

"If you don't shoot me I just might kill you first," Mamoru mumbled darkly, the harsh shadows against his face made him look more demonic than usual. As he spoke he reached into his jacket, pulling out three more throwing knives.

Haruka shook her head, "I-I don't want to shoot you. I ca-can't!" she spoke through pre-mature sobs. Her brow was furrowed, her facial expression frustrated and conflicted, her hair hung in her face and clung to her forehead from sweat. She took a deep breath, "You don't have to live this way... you.. you could change,"

Mamoru chuckled darkly and said, "Once a killer, always a killer,"

Haruka's eyes widened as Mamoru started to sprint towards her, just then the very same voice mocked in her head. _"Go ahead... shoot me. I don't believe you actually can". _She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger, the gun shot rang through her ears, drowning out all other sound. After the sound dissipated, a thud was heard on the ground followed by a loud growl. Haruka opened her eyes again and took a deep, staggering breath.

Her target was on the ground, but still alive clutching his leg. Mamoru looked up, and was about to get up when two officers came from the crowd and grabbed his arms, hand cuffing his hands behind his back. They put him into a kneeling position, held onto his arms to keep him sitting up straight, and one officer's hand was gripping his hair to keep his head up. The other officer removed Mamoru's sunglasses and tossed them on the ground by his feet. The man then crushed them under the sole of his shoe. Mamoru's eyes were shut tightly; it was clear that he was in pain, the anguish on his face from getting shot and being held in an uncomfortable position.

Thunder was heard in the distance, and rain started to fall shortly after. Tears started to flow down Haruka's cheeks, the gun was still pointed at Mamoru. His breathing was staggered, clearly worn from recent events. His eyes opened, looking off into the nothing and let out a small scoff and muttered, "I can't believe I even started to think about trusting you,"

As he finished talking the officer that smashed his sunglasses kneed Mamoru in the side, causing him to groan in pain. Mamoru heard the man tell him to keep quiet, and Haruka started running towards him, "Let him speak!"

"Stop," demanded Mamoru, he breathed heavy for a moment to catch his breath again. Her footsteps stopped. "You're an idiot for thinking you could try and make things better. This entire time you played me as much as I tried to play you, as much as I tried to use you for my own gain. I bet 'Swan' never even existed," he chuckled through raspy breaths, "You might as well just go ahead and kill me,"

"No!... no it's not what it seems..." Haruka said, her voice trailing off at the end. The rain fully matted down her hair and clothes, as well as Mamoru's. Haruka hiccuped as she continued to sob, "I... I didn't want it to go this far,"

"Kind of late for that now isn't it?"

Mamoru sat motionless, waiting for a response. He heard nothing but the rain, and Haruka's muffled sobbing. Eventually he gritted his teeth.

"If I'm going to die tonight, I'd much rather it be done by your hands!"

Haruka gripped her gun tightly, "No... no I can't"

"Do it. Now." his voice got more stern.

"I... I CAN'T" Haruka screamed, her hands shaking even more.

"Just fucking do it, Haruka. I'll NEVER forgive you otherwise!" Mamoru roared again, by the end of his sentence Haruka let out one last scream.

A single gunshot was heard. A sharp pain in his chest. A small smirk grew on his face as his head and body fell forward, the officers letting go of his body, allowing it to fall to the ground. The sounds of the rain slowly faded into nothing.

Haruka fell to her knees, dropped her gun and brought her hands to her face. She doubled over towards the ground, sobbing into her hands.

It was over. Although the feeling that over came her was not freedom. She felt a flame ignite inside of her, a flame to keep her going strong. He taught her courage to keep on going, to never give up hope; but at a price. She would forever be haunted by him, by his shadow that would always cast over her.


End file.
